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u.  s.  departme!nt  of  labor 

WORKING  CONDITIONS  SERVICE 

GRANT  HAMILTON,  Director  General 


HOW   TO   GIVE 

ILLUSTRATED  LECTURES  ON 
ACCIDENT  PREVENTION 


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WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1919 


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U.  S.  DEP.VRTMENT  OF  LABOR 
WORKING  CONDITIONS  SERVICE 

GRANT  HAMILTON,  Director  General 


HOW   TO    GIVE 

ILLUSTRATED  LECTURES  ON 

ACCIDENT  PREVENTION 

TO  WORKMEN 


WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1919 


K 


^ 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Foreword 5 

WTiy  give  safety  lectures? 5 

I.  How  to  begin  the  lecture 5 

Opening  with  an  anecdote 5 

Opening  with  a  startling  statement fi 

II.  How  to  analyze  the  problem 6 

Principal  cause  of  accidents 6 

What  is  carelessness? 7 

Distinction  between  inattention  and  recklessness 7 

Best  type  of  talk 7 

Why  teaching  through  the  eye  is  the  best  method 7 

Value  of  pictures 8 

III.  How  to  illustrate  the  lecture .- 8 

Use  of  slides 8 

Use  of  films 8 

Combination  films  and  slides 9 

The  kind  of  films  and  slides  to  show 10 

Use  of  demonstrations 10 

IV.  How  to  arrange  an  effective  program 10 

The  first  appeal 10 

Arousing  the  man's  interest 11 

Printed  tickets  or  invitations 11 

V.  When  is  the  best  time  to  hold  meetings? 11 

Noon-day  meetings 11 

The  Pullman  plan 12 

Reels,  machines 12 

The  best  time : 12 

Evening  meetings 12 

VT.  ^Vliere  is  the  best  place  to  hold  meetings  ? 13 

Conclusions 13 

116030°— 19 

(3) 


HOW  TO  GIVE  ILLUSTRATED  LECTURES  ON  ACCIDENT  PREVENTION  TO 

WORKMEN. 


By  Roy  S.  Bonsib,  Chief,  Division  of  Safety  Engineering,  Working  Conditions  Service, 


FOREWORD. 


The  withdrawal  of  40,000,000  men  directly  and  200,000,000  in- 
directly from  the  occupations  of  peace  and  their  em- 
,     .^        ,  ployment  in  the  work  of  pure  destruction  and  waste, 

to  say  nothing  of  the  millions  already  killed  or  hope- 
lessly maimed,  compelled  modern  industry  to  wake  up  to  the  fact 
that  the  human  element  must  be  conserved  and  made  as  efficient  as 

possible. 

Thousands  of  dollars  have  been  spent  in  safeguarding  machinery, 
but  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  men  who  operate  the  mechan- 
ism. Mr.  Charles  B.  Scott,  of  the  Bureau  of  Safety  of  Chicago,  found 
in  a  recent  investigation  that  about  88  per  cent  of  accidents  are  due 
to  man  failure  and  not  directly  chargeable  to  machinery.  It  is, 
therefore,  necessary  to  educate  the  workmen  themselves  in  the  haz- 
ards of  their  respective  occupations  and  the  importance  of  playing 
the  game  safely. 

I.  HOW  TO  BEGIN  THE  LECTURE. 

There  are  two  general  methods  of  opening  an  address  so  as  to  en- 
list the  interest  of  the  men  at  the  start. 

The  first  is  the  joke  or  funny  story,  a  good  example  of  which  is 
the  following  anecdote  used  by  Mr.  Scott,  of  the  Bureau  of  Safety, 
Chicago,  in  a  recent  address  on  accident  prevention: 

Several  years  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  a  most  interesting  address  by 
the  late  Elbert  Hubbard,  who  went  down  on  the  Lusitania.     Mr. 
opening    w  Hubbard  was  discussinc:  the  subject  of  men  being  bom  for  certain 

^^^  '         accomplishments  in  life,  and  he  maintained  that  men  were  so 

born  with  these  qualifications  and  tendencies.  He  said,  "For  instance,  James  J. 
Hill,  who  owned  most  of  the  railroads  in  the  Northwest,  and  who  recently  passed 
away,  was  a  born  money-maker.  WTien  Jim  was  a  young  man  he  had  charge  of  a 
railroad  section  in  the  Northwest,  and  with  three  other  men  boarded  at  the  Farmers' 
and  Merchants'  Hotel  in  the  small  town.  Jim  and  these  associates  made  about  the 
same  wages — $47.50  a  month.     There  was  a  very  comely  and  beautiful  young  lady 

(5) 


that  was  accustomed  to  wait  on  the  table  where  these  young  men  ate  and  one  day 
just  before  Christmas,  Jim  said,  'Boys,  let's  do  something  for  the  girl.'  They  said, 
'All  right,  Jim,  we've  been  thinking  about  that.'  Jim  said,  'Well,  -will  you  fellows 
do  whatever  I  do?'  And  they  said,  'Yes.'  And  so  Mr.  Hill  surprised  them  by  pulling 
a  twenty-dollar  gold  piece  from  his  pocket  and  spinning  it  on  the  table.  Some  of 
the  fellows  almost  went  under  the  table  and  they  said,  'Jim,  you  are  not  going  to  give 
her  that,  are  you?'  Jim  Hill  said,  'Yes.'  One  fellow  said,  'I've  only  got  ten  dollars.' 
Jim  said,  'Give  me  the  ten  dollars  and  your  note  for  ten  and  I  will  put  up  the  twenty 
for  you.'  They  raised  the  eighty  dollars  and  presented  it  to  the  young  lady.  The 
next  day  Jim  Hill  married  the  girl." 

The  second  method  of  opening  a  talk  for  workmen  is  some  startling 
statement  as  this,  taken  from  a  paper  on  "Accident  Prevention  as  a 
Business  Proposition,"  by  Samuel  H.  Reid: 

Recent  figures  from  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Washington,  D.  C,  show  that 
there  are  38,000,000  wage  earners  in  the  United  States  and  that  of 
Opening    with     these  38,000,000  wage  earners  700,000  lost  members  of  their  bodies, 
a  startling     or  are  so  seriously  injured  that  they  are  laid  up  on  account  of 
statement.  accidents  for  an  average  of  four  weeks  each,  every  year  of  300 

working  days.  700,000  wage  earners  lose  an  average  of  28  days 
each  year  from  injuries.  That  means  a  loss  of  19,000,000  working  days  every  year — or 
reducing  it  to. a  yearly  basis,  a  loss  of  65,333  years — a  monetary  loss  of  at  least 
$50,000,000  in  wages.  Suppose  we  put  this  on  a  one-man  basis:  If  a  workman  was 
injured  63,417  years  B.  C,  he  would  be  ready  to  return  to  work  January  2, 1917,  A.  D. 
This  wage  loss  of  $50,000,000  not  only  affects  the  employee  and  the  large  and  small 
manufacturer,  but  filters  down  to  the  middle  man,  who  handles  the  manufactured 
article,  and  the  purchaser. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  statistics  are  usually  considered  dull  and 
tiresome,  I  personally  prefer  this  second  method  of  opening  an  ad- 
dress, because  it  starts  the  hearers  to  thinking  at  the  beginning, 
and  that  is  one  of  the  fundamental  purposes  of  lectures  to  workmen. 

II.  HOW  TO  ANALYZE  THE  PROBLEM. 

The  body  or  main  part  of  the  talk  should  then  show  the  hazards 
of  the  occupation,  how  they  can  be  avoided  through 

r  1  n  c  1  p  a       ^^^^  practices  and  cooperation,  the  results  of  thought- 
cause  of  acci-  ^  ^  1/^11  •     •      1 
(jgytj,^                   lessness  and  carelessness,  and,  finally,  that  it  is  the 

workman   and  his  family  that  suffer  the  most  and 

whose  financial  burden  is  far  greater  than  that  of  the  employer.     In 

no  case  does  the  amount  of  compensation  paid  equal  the  income  loss, 

to  say  nothing  of  the  pain  and  suffering  caused  by  accidents.     It  has 

been  shown   that  a  very   large  percentage  of    accidents    is    caused 

through  carelessness   and  is    preventable.     Webster,  among   many 

synonyms  for  "careless"  gives  three  which  will  help  us  to  understand 

the  problem  of  the  careless  workman :   (1)  Heedless,  (2)  inattentive, 

(3)  rash.     "Carelessness  of   the  first  kind  need  be  considered  but 

briefly,"  says  Crystal  Eastman  in  her  book:  Work  Accidents  and  the 

Law. 


It  is  exasperating  and  hopeless,  but  fortunately  rare.     A  larger  proportion  of  the 

„„         .  "careless"   cases   belons;  rather  under  the   term   "inattentive." 

'      '      "        Human  powers  of  attention  are  naturally  limited  in  at  least  two 

iPSSflPSS  ^ 

ways:  Heed  can  be  given  to  but  a  limited  number  of  things  at  a 
time,  and  to  any  one  thing  for  but  a  limited  time.  Moreover,  in  the  condition  and 
euA'ironment  of  these  in  "dangerous  occupation,"  there  are  often  influences  working 
to  weaken  the  power  of  attention,  the  speed  and  intensity  of  the  work,  the  heat  and 
noise  of  the  place,  the  weariness  of  the  workers — all  these  tend  to  numb  the  faculties 
most  needed  for  protection. 
Between  inattention  and  recklessness  or  rashness  there  is  a  wider  distinction. 

Neither  kind  of  carelessness  so  far  described  is  of  the  same  nature 
Distinction  as  that  of  the  brakeman  who  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  track  to 
between  inat-  board  an  approaching  yard  engine,  although  he  knows  there  is  a 
tention  and  safer  way,  or  that  of  the  machinist  who  throws  a  belt  on  without 
recklessness.  sloAving  down  the  shaft.    Such  acts  as  these  are  rash — the  conscious 

taking  of  unnecessary  i-isk .  The  deliberate  failure  to  take  a  pre- 
caution is  a  kind  of  recklessness  in  which  the  chief  element  is  haste.  In  the  spon- 
taneous, impulsive  kind  of  recklessness,  the  moving  spirit  is  varj^ing,  "taking 
chances,"  the  gambling  instinct.  In  almost  all  reckless  acts  connected  with  work, 
however,  both  these  elements  are  present.  There  is  some  ease  or  time-saving 
secured  by  almost  every  risk  that  workmen  willingly  take.  In  addition,  tliere  is  a 
carelessness  due  to  lack  of  proper  instruction  as  to  what  constitutes  dangers,  their 
consequences  and  proper  precautions.     The  remedy  is  obvious. 

It  is  such  analyses  of  human  tendencies  that  make  a  speaker  able 
to  get  right  at  the  heart  of  things.  Psychology,  the  science  of  the 
human  mind  and  its  operation,  may  be  ''high-brow  stuff,"  but  it  is 
very  important.  I  venture  to  say  that  if  executives  and  safety 
men  were  more  familiar  with  the  psychology  of  the  workmen's  mind, 
there  would  be  fewer  labor  disturbances  and  accidents.  Cultivate  a 
sense  of  interest  in  your  helpers  and  it  will  go  far  to  inspire  a  similar 
feeling  in  them. 

The  type  of  talk  which  seems  to  appeal  to  workmen  the  most  is 
the  straight  from  the  shoulder,  conversational, 
es  ype  o  almost  one-syllabled  word  speech,  on  the  subject  of 
direct  interest  to  themselves  in  their  daily  occupa- 
tion. However,  a  mistake  which  safety  men  frequently  make  is  in 
underestimating  the  workmen's  intelligence,  which,  of  course,  hurts 
the  man's  self-esteem  and  antagonizes  him.  Most  people,  however, 
are  not  appealed  to  through  their  intelligence;  their  emotions  must 
be  aroused.  The  most  effective  way  of  appealing  to  the  emotions 
is  through  the  eye  by  means  of  pictures. 

An  executive  of  the  National  Cash  Register  Co.,  one  of  the  pioneers 
in  the  education  of  employees,  says: 

We  believe  in  teaching  through  the  eye,  because: 

(1)  The  optic  nerve  is  18  times  bigger  than  the  nerve  from  the  ear. 
^       '  *  (2)  The  eye  transmits  its  impressions  to  the   l)rain  25  times 

.     ...      .       faster  than  the  ear. 

^      '     .  '  (3)  When  you  talk  with  i)ictures  you  use  ])oth  the  eves  and  the 

method.  ^  \  , .  ,  .         ,        .i  ,u     \. 

ears  or  your  listeners  m  making  tJiem  grasp  your  thought. 


8 

Tlius,  illustrated  lectures  offer  one  of  the  most  effective  means 
kno\VTi  to-day  of  attracting  a  man's  attention,  driving  home  the 
important  points,  and  promoting  safety,  because  pictures  possess 
strong  inherent  interest  value. 

Pictures  are  the  universal  language  and  may  he  understood  alike 
by  all  classes  of  people  and  all  grades  of  intellect 
a  lie  o  pic-  ^^^  ^ij  nationalities.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  a 
child  is  attracted  by  pictures  long  before  printed 
words  mean  anything  to  him.  Everybody  likes  to  look  at  pictures. 
Rolland  Hall,  an  advertising  expert,  states  that  pictures  give  the 
argument  or  the  description  at  a  glance.  They  show  what  perhaps 
could  not  be  fully  described  in  500  or  1,000  words.  Boss  Tweed,  of 
New  York,  it  is  said,  declared  that  he  cared  nothing  about  the  word 
criticism  of  him  that  the  newspapers  published,  but  he  shrank  from 
having  the  people  see  cartoons  of  him;  they  could  understand  the 
pictures  even  if  they  didn't  read  editorials,  and  it  is  generally  con- 
ceded that  Nast's  pictures  put  this  political  boss  out  of  business, 

III.  HOW  TO  ILLUSTRATE  THE  LECTURE. 

Lectures  may  be  illustrated  in  three  ways:  (a)  Slides,  (h)  films, 
(c)  actual  demonstrations  of  safe  and  unsafe  practices.  Each  has 
its  advantages  and  disadvantages. 

The  Chicago  &  North  Western  Railway  Co.  has  used  stereopticon 
slides  in  its  safety  work  with  good  results  for  the  past  seven  years, 
and  for  the  past  two  years  has  used  motion  pictures  in  addition  to 
the  slides.  Mr.  Harry  J.  Bell,  a  member  of  this  company's  safety 
organization,  says: 

I  believe  there  is  a  great  educational  value  in  the  use  of  lilnas,  Ijut  ordinarily  the 
_.        f  ,!•  1  feature    of    entertainment,    instead    of    education,    enters   quite 

strongly  into  this  method.  The  advantage  with  slides  is  that  the 
attention  is  riveted  on  the  particular  subject  on  the  screen;  then,  too,  the  speaker 
has  opportunity  to  dwell  as  long  as  may  be  necessary  in  talking  about  any  one  subject. 
Most  of  our  slides  were  made  from  pliotographs  secured  under  our  direction  by  our 
company  photographer,  the  pictures  being  posed  by  our  own  men.  He  then  makes 
them  into  slides,  furnishing  at  the  upper  right-hand  corner  of  the  slide  face  a  red  tag, 
with  his  own  file  number.  We  use  a  white  tag,  placed  at  the  upper  left-hand  corner, 
to  indicate  the  order  in  which  the  slides  on  a  particular  occasion  are  to  be  shown. 

I  believe  a  good  average  as  to  time  used  in  showing  the  slides  would  be  to  say 
that  60  slides  should  be  shown  in  30  minutes.  It  has  always  V)een  our  idea  that  a 
Safety  meeting  or  rally,  especially  one  to  which  the  families  of  the  men  or  the  general 
ptiblic  are  invited,  should  not  last  over  an  hour  and  a  half. 

On  the  other  hand,  Marcus  A.  Dow,  general  safety  agent  of  the 
New  York  Central  Lines,  is  a  strong  advocate  of  the  moving  picture. 
In  a  recent  letter  to  the  writer,  Mr.  Dow  said : 

In  our  opinion,  lectures  that  are  illustrated  either  by  moving  pictures  or  stere- 

j,        -„j  opticon  views  are  the  most  effective  and  of  the  two  the  moving 

picture,  if  it  is  forceful  and  tells  a  dramatic  story,  is  the  one  which 

will  appeal  to  the  men  the  most.     We  have  been  using  moving  pictui'es  similar  to 


"The  House  That  Jack  Bxiilt"  and  "The  Rule  of  Reason"  for  several  years,  and  these 
mo^-ing  pictures  have  done  more  to  interest  our  employees  in  safety  work  than  any- 
thing else.  Lectures  are  not  delivered  while  the  picture  is  on  the  screen,  because  the 
pictures  tell  their  own  story.  It  has  been  our  custom,  however,  to  deliver  a  verbal 
lecture  of  from  20  minutes  to  half  an  hour,  outlining  causes  of  accidents  and  explaining 
to  the  men  that  it  is  necessary  to  obtain  their  cooperation  to  eliminate  these  accidents. 
The  motion  picture  which  follows  takes  about  40  minutes  to  show. 

The  National  Founders'  Association  has  also  adopted  the  moving- 
picture  method  of  illustration  exclusively  and  has  discarded  slides, 
although  they  have  a  very  large  and  complete  collection. 

For  the  past  year  and  a  half  the  Ford  Motor  Co.  has  been  showing 
a  2,000-foot  motion  picture  film  to  its  employees,  but  has  not  made  a 
practice  of  delivering  any  set  lectures.  This  film  deals  with  the 
guarding  of  machinery  in  the  Ford  factory  and  gives  illustrations 
of  the  right  and  wrong  way  of  working.  The  film  requires  about 
three-quarters  of  an  hour,  and  it  is  explained  by  a  representative  of 
the  safety  department,  who  also  emphasizes  different  points  and 
submits  appropriate  statistics  as  the  picture  progresses.  The 
pictures  are  shown  to  about  175  men  each  night,  except  Saturday, 
immediately  after  quitting  time.  As  the  employees  work  but  eight 
hours,  they  do  not  object  to  coming  to  see  the  pictures. 

We  find  that  there  is  a  noticeable  change  in  the  men  after  they  have  seen  the  practi- 
cal illustration  of  what  the  company  is  doing  to  help  them — 

says  a  member  of  the  Ford  safety  department. 

There  is  a  spirit  of  cooperation,  open-mindedness,  a  desire  to  work  the  safe  way 
and  to  help  work  out  methods  of  preventing  accidents.  Naturally  we  feel  that  in 
the  accomplishment  of  these  points,  our  "Illustrated  Lectures  for  Workmen"  are 
thoroughly  worth  while. 

In  the  United  States  Metals  Refining  Plant,  at  Chrome,  N.  J., 

talks  on  accident  prevention  are  incidental  parts  of 
Filmsand  •  •,  n  mi  „ 

moving-picture  performances,  ihe  program  con- 
sists of  four  or  five  general  films,  some  of  which  are 
educational,  others  simply  amusing,  sandwiched  in  between  these  are 
films  showmg  accident  work  done  by  various  industrial  concerns. 
A  series  of  lantern  slides  taken  around  the  plant  are  shown  to  illustrate 
the  right  and  wrong  way  of  doing  things  and  the  dangerous  places 
which  might  cause  accidents.  While  the  lantern  sUdes  are  being 
shown,  the  welfare  inspector  explains  them  and  gives  a  short  talk. 
A  separate  performance  is  given  to  foreign-born  workmen,  an  evening 
being  devoted  to  each  group.  One  of  the  foremen  explains  the 
slides  and  films  to  the  audience  in  their  native  tongue. 

It  is  far  better  to  show  pictm-es  giving  the  results  of  accidents  and 
how  accidents  occur  than  a  lot  of  slides  illustrating  a  mass  of  com- 
plicated guards.  Such  pictm-es  may  mterest  safety  engineers  and 
plant  executives,  but,  as  a  rule,  they  don't  appeal  to  the  average 


10 

workman.     In   discussing   this   phase   of   the   problem,   Mr.   Sidney 
Rollo,  of  the  above  mentioned  plant,  recently  made  this  statement: 

It  is  utterly  impossible  to  make  a  man's  mind  stop  automatically  every  time  a 
Th       ir-  f     dangerous  incident  arises,  especially  if  he  is  quick  and  efficient. 

He  must  1)0  taught,  and  it  must  become  second  nature  to  him  to 
be  careful,  and  not  have  to  stop  to  think  whether  a  thing  is  danger- 
ous or  not.  Going  into  elaborate  details  of  accidents  is  more  for 
the  safety  engineer  and  management  than  for  the  men.  We  showed  in  one  of  our 
"Safety  First "  films,  the  result  of  carelessness  on  the  part  of  a  man  who  stepped  on  a 
nail,  raising  his  foot  and  then  saying  "Ouch."  This  only  tended  to  create  a  laugh, 
and  I  think  it  went  by  without  much  further  thought.  Later  we  showed  a  film  where 
a  fellow  stepped  on  a  nail,  and  then  was  stretched  out  with  his  foot  held  to  the  audi- 
ence, the  blood  running  out  in  great  streams.  This  had  its  effect  on  the  audience. 
Many  of  the  men  shuddered  and  the  women  began  to  cry.  I  am  sure  that  this  lesson 
struck  home.  Although  it  was  only  a  small  accident,  the  consequences  were  shown 
as  well  as  the  accident  itself.  One  of  our  oldest  plant  slogans  reads:  "  No  Matter 
How  Slight  the  Accident,  Report  It."  Drive  this  into  the  men  and  they  will  be- 
come ashamed  and  avoid  carelessness  for  no  other  reason.  Above  all,  even  if  the 
workmen  to  whom  you  have  to  speak,  are  skilled,  don't  make  your  address  technical. 
Even  engineers  and  chemists  have  been  known  to  fall  asleep  at  technical  lectixres. 

Where  a  large  percentage  of  the  employees  are  foreigners,   the 

pictures  should  be  depended  upon  to  "deliver  the 

^^  ^.  '    goods"   and  eliminate  the  lectures  altogether;  how- 

ever,   it  is  well  to  have  a  man  present  to  answer 

questions.     Where  it  is  impossible  to  show  films  or  slides  then  the 

talk  or  lecture  should  be  accompanied  by  demonstrations  of  artificial 

resuscitation  or  first  aid,   in  which  men   taken  directly  from  the 

audience  can  actually  take  part.     This  will  arouse  the  interest  to  a 

very  great  degree  because  it  gives  the  subject  a  more  human  or 

personal  touch. 

IV.  HOW  TO  ARRANGE  AN   EFFECTIVE  PROGRAM. 

There  never  yet  lived  a  normal  woman  who  ever  lost  interest  in 
romance;  therefore,  show  one  picture  depicting  a 
'^^  love  story.  However,  this  must  be  reserved  to  the 
last  so  that  there  will  be  no  danger  of  the  audience 
leaving  before  the  show  is  over.  The  first  picture  should  be  a  comedy, 
to  make  the  kiddies  laugh;  this  will  put  the  man  in  good  humor  and  a 
receptive  mood.  Now,  as  to  the  safety  educational  film — for  there 
should  be  but  one — it  should  be  appropriate  to  the  occasion  at  all 
tunes.  That  is  to  say,  a  picture  intended  for  railroad  men  should 
not  be  shown  to  miners,  nor  should  one  illustrating  accident  pre- 
vention in  mining  operations  be  shown  to  mill  operatives.  The  film 
should  be  of  such  a  character  as  to  arouse  a  man's  interest  in  the 
fundamental  principles  of  accident  prevention.  His  familiarity  with 
his  occupation  naturally  makes  him  careless,  unless  he  has  been 
made  to  realize  that  no  matter  how  skillful  a  workman  he  may  be 
he  is  not  immune  from  injury  if  he  is  careless. 


11 

C.  L.  Andersen,  an  engineer  at  the  East  Chicago  phint  of  the  United 
States  Metals  Refining  Co.,  hit  the  nail  on  the  head  when  he  made 
this  statement: 

We  have  always  been  in  the  habit  of  showing  pictures  that  were  supposed  to  teach 
the  worker  how  to  avoid  accidents.  This  is  unnecessary  and  use- 
°  less.     Every  Worker  of  ordinary  intelligence  knows  all  the  hazards 

of  his  occupation,  of  course,  excepting  those  hazards  where  poi- 
sonous and  deleterious  substances  are  involved,  but  including  all  that  can  ]je  shown 
in  a  picture.  He  knows  that  if  a  loose  sleeve  or  apron  is  caught  on  a  revolving  shaft 
he  is  liable  to  be  torn  asunder.  He  knows  that  if  a  flying  chip  enters  his  unprotected 
eye,  he  may  lose  his  sight.  He  kncjws  that  if  a  heavy  load  drops  from  an  overhead 
crane,  and  lands  on  his  head  that  it  will  kill  him.  To  show  these  things  in  a  picture 
does  no  good.  The  average  workman  tliinks  liimself  too  clever  to  be  caught  in  this 
way;  anyway  he  likes  to  take  chances.     He  so  hates  to  be  a  coward. 

Now,  instead  of  showing  how  to  avoid  accidents,  show  the  man  why  he  should 
avoid  them.  Instead  of  appealing  to  his  fear,  appeal  to  his  fatherly  love,  to  his 
paternal  instinct;  in  other  words,  get  a  strangle  hold  upon  his  heart  instead  of  upon 
his  reason,  and  the  battle  is  over.  To  do  this,  show,  for  an  example,  a  picture  that 
tells  the  story  of  a  carelesss  father  who  was  killed  through  his  own  carelessness,  and 
depicts  the  heartrending  anguish  and  terrible  hardships  that  his  mother,  sister,  wife, 
and  innocent  cliildren  had  to  endure  because  of  it.  If  this  ^vill  not,  in  time,  make 
him  a  careful  man,  nothing  upon  this  earth  will. 

If  a  large  per  cent  of  the  employees  are  foreigners,  experience  has 
shown  that  giving  out  printed  invitations  or  tickets 

Printed^  tick-     ^^  ^^iq  men.  will  cause  a  better  turnout  than  a  posted 

..  or  verbal  notice.     It  seems  that  the  acceptance  of 

such  a  card  makes  the  man  feel  obligated  to  come 

and  brmg  his  family.     It  also  gives  them  more  courage  to  enter  a 

strange  building. 

V.  WHEN  IS  THE  BEST  TIME  TO  HOLD  MEETINGS? 

Meetings  may  be  held  during  the  noon  hour,  at  quitting  time  or  in 
the  evening.  While  the  first  two  have  the  advantage  of  having  the 
men  at  the  plant,  there  is  the  disadvantage  that  they  are  either  in  a 
rush  to  get  home,  or  are  liable  to  bolt  their  food  instead  of  eating  it 
properly.  However,  the  Pullman  Car  Co.  and  the  General  Electric 
believe  that  the  noon  hour  is  the  best. 

In  writing  on  this  subject  to  the  author,  Mr.  S.  W.  Ashe,  of  the 
General  Electric  educational  department,  says: 

In  gi\'ing  our  talks  in  the  shop  during  the  noon  hours,  we  found  it  desirable  to  start 

about  12.30  p.  m.,  and  stop  at  10  minutes  to  the  hour.     To  attract 

^      attention  to  the  talk  we  used  an  easel,  on  which  we  mounted 

°  '  bulletins,  broken  goggles,  and  things  of  a  safety  nature.     Then 

again  it  is  a  good  plan  t<j  get  the  foremen  together  in  a  regular  lecture  room  where  you 

can  give  them  an  hour's  talk  on  the  company's  time,  illustrated  by  lantern  slides  on 

your  various  safety  methods. 


12 

The  Pullman  Co.  is  another  advocate  of  the  noonday  meeting. 
However,  this  meeting,  which  is  held  in  the  men's 
The     Pullman     jj^.^jj^   dining  room,   is   confined    almost  entkely   to 
'  moving  pictures  w'ith  occasional  slides  with  safety 

slogans  and  talks  by  the  safety  engineer.     The  program  is  arranged 
so  that  it  will  he  both  entertaining  and  instructive.     Only  one  reel 
of  pictmes  is  shown,  starting  promptly  at  12.30  and  ending  at  12.45 
p.  m.     There  is  a  $250  electric  Victrola  which  was  presented  to  the 
men  by  Mr.  Charles  Schwab  and  which  is  played  during  the  picture. 
The  following  is  the  weekly  program: 
Monday:  Comedy. 
Tuesday:  Ford  Weekly. 
Wednesday:  Industrial. 
Thursday:  Drama. 
Friday:  Hears t-Pathe  Weekly. 
vSaturday:  No  picture.     Men  quit  at  noon. 
The  men  take  an  intense  interest  in  these  pictures  and  a  great  deal 
of  good  is  accomplished.     The  object  of  the  comedy  on  Monday  is  to 
help  counteract  the  proverbial  ''Monday  blues." 

Reels  may  be  secured  for  about  $1 .25  apiece  from  any  film  exchange, 

a  list  of  which  will  be  furnished  upon  request,  and  a 

Reels,  ma-     g^^^j  moving  picture  machine  may  be  purchased  at  a 

very  reasonable  cost.     A  list  of  makers  and  handlers 

of  picture  machines  and  supplies  will  also  be  furnished  upon  request. 

Personally,  I  believe  that  the  practice  of  noonday  pictures  and 

talks  should  be  more  universally  adopted.  The 
The  best  time.  .      .      ,     ,         ,  »  •     ^.i,     tt    -a   j  oa   i 

principal  chambers  oi  commerce  m  the  United  states 

and  numerous  other  organizations  have  found  that  noonday  meetings 
are  better  attended  because  men  like  to  have  their  evenings  free  to 
spend  with  their  families,  to  attend  theaters,  social  functions,  or 
lodges.  In  order  to  maintain  interest  in  noonday  meetings,  a  solo 
or  short  musical  selection  by  "one  of  the  boys"  should  be  added. 
Evening  meetings  have  the  advantage  of  catching  the  men  in  a 
more  restful  state  of  mind.  His  day's  work  is  over, 
Evening  mee  -     |^^  -j^^^  -j^^^  ^  chance  to  wash  up,  eat  his  supper,  and 

enjoy  his  evening's  smoke,  and  is,  therefore,  in  a  more 
receptive  mood.  However,  there  is  the  disadvantage  that  unless 
there  is  a  very  strong  appeal  he  doesn't  like  to  leave  home.  Nearly 
all  of  the  railroads  and  industries  hold  their  meetings  in  the  evenings. 
It  has  been  found  that  from  7.30  to  8  o'clock  is  the  ])est  time.  Ex- 
perience has  shown  that  the  most  effective  length  of  meeting  is  an 
hour,  although  if  the  pictures  are  especially  interesting  they  may 
last  longer,  but  in  no  case  should  they  extend  over  90  minutes. 

These  evening  meetings  or  moving  picture  entertainments  should  be 
held  at  frequent  intervals,  say,  twice  a  month,  and  should  be  made  a 


13 

family  affair,  because  one  of  the  best  wa3's  of  securing  the  attention 
of  the  working  man  is  to  get  his  wife  and  children  interested  in  safety 
and  accident  prevention. 

VI.  WHERE  IS  THE  BEST   PLACE  TO   HOLD  MEETINGS? 

Meetings  or  lectures  may  be  held  out  in  the  plant,  in  the  men's 
dining  room,  or  special  meeting  places  such  as  halls,  theaters,  and,  in 
the  case  of  railroads,  special  instruction  cars.  Meetings  may  also  be 
held  in  the  foremen's  homes  or  the  boarding  houses  of  the  workmen. 
In  the  Pittsburgh  district  many  out-of-door  meetings  with  safety 
films  have  been  given  during  the  past  season,  generally  in  the  public 
parks.  To  be  the  most  effective,  I  believe  meetings  should  be  held 
in  some  hall  or  auditorium,  centrally  located,  and  should  never  be 
held  in  the  plant.  The  men  see  enough  of  the  plant  during  working 
hours.  The  New  York  Central  lines  have  two  motion-picture  cars 
provided  with  fireproof  projecting  rooms. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

From  the  foregoing  data  it  appears  that  the  most  effective  way 
of  promoting  accident  prevention  is  through  the  use  of  short  talks 
about  30  or  40  minutes  long,  illustrated  with  slides  and  moving 
pictures  showing  the  results  of  accidents,  rather  than  how  to  avoid 
them;  that  these  lectures  and  pictures,  where  there  is  a  large  i)er- 
centage  of  foreigners,  should  be  held  at  the  noon  hour,  in  the  dinuig 
room  of  the  men,  or  in  the  case  of  evening  meetings  at  7.30  or  8  p.  m. 
The  evening  meeting  should  be  held  in  some  central  location  and 
should  be  made  a  family  affair. 

o 


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